Instructabling

A bunch of people here in the lab have been knocking out Instructables, step-by-step explanations for how to build various projects. They’re doing this primarily, I understand, so that they can take part in the DIY for CHI workshop happening in Boston in April. The submission criteria for taking part in the workshop is an Instructible, which is a great idea, and it sounds like it’ll be an excellent event.

Nic Marquardt wrote up instructions for how to build your own RFID tag (and reader) and how to build cool versions that react to tilt. This is based on work he did with us in the lab as an intern over the summer.

And Nic Villar posted the details for how to use an old hard drive as a rotary controller for a PC. Really slick. I think this bit of work was done before he joined us in Cambridge, during what he described as a “late night hacking session”.